MTU engines drive construction of Africa’s largest dam

Africa's largest dam is being built 40 km to the east of the Sudanese border in Ethiopia. Africa's largest dam is being built 40 km to the east of the Sudanese border in Ethiopia

Once all the connected water power plants are running from 2017 onwards, up to 5,250 MW of power will be generated on the lower tributary of the Blue Nile. Before then, however, the remote construction site covering several square kilometres needs to be supplied with power itself.

The power will be supplied by 16 Pramac gensets driven by Series 4000 MTU engines. These 16-cylinder diesel engines, due to arrive at the Pramac plant in Casole D’Elsa, Italy by mid-2012, will then be used to build gensets for industrial power generators.

Pramac produces on demand and adapts the gensets to end-user requirements. Customers such as the Italian prime contractor, Salini, which is responsible for building the Ethiopian dam, are the beneficiaries.

"Our gensets based on MTU engines have already proven themselves in similar projects," said Fulvio Salvadori, Head of Purchasing in the Pramac Group. "That is why MTU was once again chosen to supply the main component for a reliable and high-performance solution - this time for supplying power in Ethiopia."

MTU engines have already been used in the Pramac gensets for five years. Only ten to twenty per cent of the gensets are destined for the Italian market, with the remainder being exported worldwide. MTU has supplied around 250 Series 2000 and 4000 engines to Pramac since the two companies started working together. The Italian manufacturer now also installs the Series 1600.